Is my dog playing or being aggressive?

Knowing how to tell if your dog or puppy is being aggressive or playful when playing with another dog can be tricky for an average dog owner. What looks sometimes scary, -open mouths, mouthing each other, vocalizations from growling to barking, hackles up, jumping on each other, one dog pinning another down and wrestling can actually be just play styles. Dogs often exhibit behaviors similar to those used in aggressive encounters when playing. is my dog playing or being aggressive?

Living In Fear, Helping Your Fearful Dog Gain Confidence

Living a life filled with fear or anxiety is no fun for humans or dogs. In fact, it is a terrible way to live. Feelings of anxiety, nervousness and fear flood the body with toxic chemicals and can shorten a lifespan. Helping your fearful dog gain confidence can be as simple as introducing exercise into their routine, implementing basic obedience skills, coping skills and using something pleasurable (food or toys) to change the way your dog feels about the fearful object or environment.

Bad Dog or Bored Dog?

Is your dog bad or just bored?

If you ask me, there are no bad dogs, really. They are either bored and/or maybe just haven’t been taught desirable positive behaviors. Dogs don’t want to misbehave. Quite the contrary, they want to make you happy. However, even when they have been taught/trained basic manners, if they are not getting what they need in terms of daily mental stimulation and physical exercise they may vent that energy in undesirable not to mention, negative ways.

Bringing home a new puppy is an exciting event for any family. To help make the transition go smoothly there are several things you can do. Remember, a new puppy is a blank slate which your are writing on everyday whether you know it or not.

New puppy experiencing sensory overload.

1. Stay calm. Too much excitement is sensory overload for your new puppy and can lead to an overexcited dog later on. Your puppy will reflect how you are acting. Rewarding calm behavior and ignoring or redirecting excited behaviors will help the puppy stay calm and make it easier to train him/her.

2. Take it slow and limit access to your home initially. Think of things from your new puppy’s point of view. They have just been taken from the only family they have known and are in unfamiliar surroundings with people they don’t know. [Read more…]

5 Top Dog Parks in Gwinnett County

If you are like a lot of dog owners you enjoy taking your dog to an off leash dog park where they can socialize and make new friends. Take a look at the 5 Top Dog Parks in Gwinnett County to see what’s in your area (not in any particular order).

Chattapoochee – Duluth

Offering separate areas for small and large dogs, this park has doggie sprinklers for cooling off and obstacle courses for extra fun!

Ronald Reagan – Lawrenceville

Although this is an older park it has a lot to offer with three enclosures and a separate long narrow dog run area. It has some agility equipment, doggie water fountains and [Read more…]

If your dog exhibits any of these symptoms seek veterinary care immediately. Although this is a virus and as such there is no specific treatment, a secondary bacterial infection is possible and medication can be prescribed.